UFC 272: China’s Yan Xiaonan sets sights on a title shot with a win over Marina Rodriguez
- No 4-ranked strawweight faces No 3-ranked Brazilian Marina Rodriguez as both look to earn a crack at champ Rose Namajunas
- ‘This is a great challenge. This is why we fight – in front of big crowds against great opponents, and I can’t wait,’ says Yan
The major surprise for Chinese strawweight Yan Xiaonan was that when the experience of losing a fight finally came around, it wasn’t quite the end of her world.
Yan says she took “big lessons” out of losing to American Carla Esparza last time out and she turned attention one way only.
“It led to me knowing more about myself and my skill set, what are my weakness, where should I improve in my whole MMA skill set,” she says.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent ready to fight Carla, to defend her takedowns and her wrestling. I didn’t know how to react when I was taken down and I quickly realised I hadn’t prepared enough for that. So I shook the loss off and I went away and I worked hard on those weaknesses.”
The 32-year-old Yan (13-2, one no contest) returns to the fray at this weekend’s blockbuster UFC 272 card out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, still the fourth-ranked strawweight on the UFC’s books and with a title shot still within reach.